Is It Burnout or Depression? How to Tell the Difference

• Is It Burnout or Depression? How to Tell the Difference
• From the HealthyPlace Mental Health Blogs
• Most Popular HealthyPlace Articles Shared by Facebook Fans
• Handling Negative Feedback at Work When You Have Bipolar
• Addiction Quote

Have you been struggling with exhaustion and a lack of desire to do daily tasks? Do you find yourself overwhelmed and perhaps hopeless? You might be experiencing burnout, but it could be something more.

It can be difficult to know if you’re experiencing burnout or major depression because they both can cause:

• Fatigue (feeling physical and/or emotionally drained)
• Loss of motivation
• Lack of interest in things once enjoyed
• Difficulty thinking and concentrating
• Hopelessness
• Withdrawal from friends, family, and activities
• Physical symptoms (headaches, digestive troubles, muscle or joint pain, and more)
• Neurochemical/hormonal changes in the brain and body

Both conditions, burnout and depression, can make life difficult. Depression, though, goes deeper and is more serious. In addition to the above symptoms, depression can cause:

• A sense of worthlessness
• Excessive feelings of guilt
• Significant weight changes
• Sleep disturbances (sleeping too much or hardly at all)
• Thoughts or death or suicide, with or without a plan

Burnout is typically caused by stress. While depression can be linked to stress, its causes can also be genetic. Sometimes, the cause of depression is unknown. Burnout tends to be shorter lived, improving once the stressor is addressed. Depression can disrupt life for weeks, months, or even years if left untreated.

The good news is that both burnout and major depression can be treated. Working with a therapist can be beneficial for both, as can lifestyle changes like nutrition, exercise, relaxation, and mindfulness. Sometimes, depression requires antidepressant medication. If you are experiencing symptoms that are interfering in your life, scheduling an appointment with your doctor can help you sort things out and begin the journey to recovery.

Recommended Video

Articles Related to Depression and Burnout

• Does Depression Make You More Prone to Burnout?
• Avoid Burnout with Good Self-Care
• Anxiety at Work: The Road to Burnout
• Mental Health Recovery Burnout Is Real and It’s a Problem
• Parental Burnout When You Have a Child with Mental Illness
• Caregiver Burnout When Helping Someone with a Mental Illness
• What is Depression?
• Depression Diagnosis and How is Depression Diagnosed?
• What Are the Warning Signs of Depression?
• Self-Help for Depression: What Helps?
• Need Help with Depression? Here’s What to Do
• The Best Way to Deal with Depression
• Short Depression Test
• Depression Quiz

Today's Question: If you’ve ever suffered burn out, what has helped you? We invite you to participate by sharing your thoughts, experiences, and knowledge on the HealthyPlace Facebook page.

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From the HealthyPlace Mental Health Blogs

On all our blogs, your comments and observations are welcomed.

• How Sleeping with Purpose Helped My Mental Health
• Practice Self-Compassion for Your Anxiety
• It's Time to End the Stigma Against Self-Help Books
• Friendships and Mental Illness: Start by Befriending You
• Treating My Child's Mental Illness with a Box of Crayolas
• Bipolar Disorder and Coping with Professional Setbacks
• How I Deal with ED Triggers in Places Outside My Control
• Why Walking Helps My Anxiety
• Exercise Mindfully for Maximum Anxiety-Reducing Power
• Childhood Bullying Affects Us as Adults
• Self-Harm Psychology Tools that Helped Me Recover
• Kurt Cobain's Suicide, My Schizoaffective Suicidal Thoughts
• The Sneaky Impact of Internalized Capitalism on Depression
• We Need to Have Open Conversations About Therapy
• Finding Meaning When You're Mentally Ill
• How You Can Benefit from Crying
• Do Narcissists Self-Harm?
• Learning of a Unique Bipolar Depression Medication
• Mental Health Recovery Burnout Is Real and It's a Problem
• Healthy Ways to Deal with Rejection If You're Told 'No'
• Mental Health Challenges Faced by TGNB Community
• Changing the Meaning of a Rape Anniversary
• Supporting Someone in Denial About Their Mental Health
• Recovering from a Bad Therapy Experience
• Anxiety Can Make You Tired
• The Truth About Anxiety for Mental Health Awareness Month
• Verbal Abuse and How it Affects Your Self-Esteem

Feel free to share your thoughts and comments at the bottom of any blog post. And visit the mental health blogs homepage for the latest posts.

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From HealthyPlace YouTube Channel

Negative feedback at work can trigger bipolar disorder depression or mania. How you handle it makes a difference. Take a look.

Subscribe to the HealthyPlace YouTube channel

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Most Popular HealthyPlace Articles Shared by Facebook Fans

Here are the top 3 mental health articles HealthyPlace Facebook fans are recommending you read:

1. Changing the Meaning of a Rape Anniversary
2. Supporting Someone in Denial About Their Mental Health
3. Recovering from a Bad Therapy Experience

If you're not already, I hope you'll like us on Facebook too. There are a lot of wonderful, supportive people there.

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Quote About Addiction

“When you can stop, you don't want to. And when you want to stop, you can't. That's addiction.”

Read more quotes about addiction and recovery.

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That's it for now. If you know of anyone who can benefit from this newsletter or the HealthyPlace.com site, I hope you'll pass this onto them. You can also share the newsletter on any social network you belong to by clicking the links below. For updates throughout the week, follow us on Twitter, like us on Facebook, subscribe to our YouTube channel, or follow us on Instagram.

Thank you,
Deborah

Community Partner Team
HealthyPlace.com - America's Mental Health Channel
"When you're at HealthyPlace.com, you're never alone."
http://www.healthyplace.com